Leprosy vaccine to become a reality?

By Our Special Correspondent

MADURAI, APRIL 1. A vaccine for leprosy will become a reality if the ongoing research reaches its logical conclusion in the near future. A federal- funded research on leprosy has started identifying a large number of ``potential candidates'' to become eligible as a vaccine for one of the most dreaded diseases in the world.

Talking to The Hindu here, Dr. Thomas P. Gillis of the National Hansens' Disease Centre, USA, who has undertaken this pioneering research, said TB and leprosy were like ``cousins'' as some of their compositions and genes were similar. It had also been established that the vaccine BCG, given for newborns, had an effect on leprosy also. At the moment, Dr. Gillis said, they had started developing DNA micro arrays to find out the major strain differences in the pathogen, Mycobacterium leprae, that causes the disease. The BCG vaccine had been found to have an effect on leprosy in countries like India and Malawi.

Though the research on formulating a vaccine for leprosy was at a ``very early stage,'' he was confident that a result could be achieved. But still, the logistic problems would have to be confronted in tune with the transmission patterns as sub-typing the organism had been found to be difficult. Basically, the researchers at the National Hansens' Disease Centre had started developing DNA micro arrays in order to find out the major strain differences. Though improvement of basic hygiene would be the best way to eradicate leprosy, Dr. Gillis said a vaccine would help to further improve the picture. At the moment, three groups were working all over the world on formulating a leprosy vaccine and research was on to find out whether the BCG vaccine could be used against leprosy also by ``adding a gene.''

Dr. Gillis pointed out that research in leprosy had been keeping a low profile because of the priority given for HIV and AIDS. But now the US Government had come forward to provide funds for four years for the project to develop a vaccine for leprosy. He described leprosy as a ``universal disease'' which was more prevalent in India and Brazil.

About 60 per cent of the leprosy patients lived in India and Brazil, another 39 per cent in 15 other countries and the rest were scattered throughout the world, including the U.S.

Though the WHO had set a goal in 1992 to eradicate leprosy from the face of the globe by 2005, the definition of ``eradication,'' he said, meant only ``control'' and not absolute elimination.

The WHO norms deemed the prevalence of one case per 10000 as eradication, which could mean a lot for a country like India. He said about 600,000 to 650,000 new leprosy cases were added on to the world population every year. According to recent estimates, the leprosy case rate hovered around 1.4 case per 10000 on a global basis after the introduction of the multidrug therapy.

Dr. Gillis, even while relating the common characteristics of TB and leprosy, ruled out the possibility of HIV infection having the same kind of effect on leprosy as TB.

He argued that leprosy was caused by an ``innocuous infection,'' with the micro organism having a long incubation period. Leprosy started as a skin infection and went on to affect the nerves. By preventing the attack on nerves, the disease could be stopped with skin infection, he added.

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